Character Analysis of Ivy Walker: Filmography of Bryce Dallas Howard
All of these movies have characters, producers, scripts, compelling plot lines, sets, and scenes. The job of the actors and actresses is to move the audience, sell the character they are playing, and make the audience love the movie. The movie has many excellent actors and actresses; such as, Joaquin Phoenix ,Brendan Glesson,Adrien Brody, and Sigourney Weaver ("The Village"). But the performance of Bryce Dallas Howard, who played Ivy Walker, made the movie a success and well-loved. In The Village , the director Night Shyamalan utilizes Bryce Dallas to illustrate Ivy Walker’s kindness towards the other village people and bravery in terrifying situations. Bryce Dallas Howard is the daughter of director, producer, and actor Ron Howard ("Bryce Dallas Howard Biography"). Howard has been in many successful movies; such as Lady in the Water, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145487/%7CSpidermanSpiderman, Twilight Saga: Eclipsehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1325004/%7CEclipse, and The Help (" The Village (2004 Film)" ). Walker received an enormous amount of praise from movie critics for her portrayal of Ivy Walker. One critic http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aavillage072904.htm%7Ccritic said, "But as much of an ensemble act as this is its newcomer Bryce Dallas Howard (with the most difficult role in the film) who totally steals the show." The critic goes on to say that Howard made the other actors look "pale in comparison" to the outstanding job she did on her character ("The Village Movie Review- Staring Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Pheonix"). The audience first meets Bryce's character Ivy when she stops a fight in the village between her best friend Noah, who is mentally handicapped, and another villager. Ivy is supposed to punish Noah and send it him to the "quiet room" for hitting the boy in the fight, but instead she says, "You needn't go into the quiet room if you take an oath to never strike any person again (The Village)." Ivy does not send Noah to the "quiet room" because she loves him like a brother and does not want him to get into trouble. Her understanding of Noah and her compassionate treatment of him makes her known in the village as an extremely caring and kind person. Critic Paul Newall says Ivy "is the leader-in-waiting of the community and is able to quiet Noah as no one else can (Newall)." Shymalan highlights the friendship between Ivy and Noah to inspire others to be kind to everyone no matter how different or odd they may be. During the scene where Ivy breaks up the fight, the audience discovers that Ivy suffers from blindness. Shyamalan gave Ivy her "blindness" to expose to the audience how Ivy has and continues to overcome her obstacle. Howard took Ivy's blindness very seriously while preparing for the role. To make Ivy's blindness believable to the audience Howard says, "I wore a blindfold for ninety minutes to get the feel for blindness, after that time the brain starts to rewire itself ("Village with M Night Shyamalan and Bryce Dallas Howard")." Not only did Howard have to act like she was blind, but she had to portray a character who did let her blindness make her afraid. Instead Ivy lets her blindness aid her in becoming stronger and braver. Howard said, "When I read the story I was very sceptical that Ivy being blind could achieve all that she was supposed to in the story ("Village with M Night Shyamalan and Bryce Dallas Howard")." Ivy's bravest moment is when she travels across the Covington Forrest even though the Forrest is known to be crawling with monsters that are referred to by the villagers as "those we do not speak of". She does this to fetch medicine for Lucius, her fiancé, who suffered from being stabbed and fatally wounded and needed medicine from the other towns. Paul Newall also says that Shyamalan purposly wanted Ivy to be blind to illustrate that "she is truly self-reliant in a way that the other villagers (excepting Lucius) lack the courage to be (Newall)." Ivy decides to go on the mission alone because of her courage and because she refuses to let her fear or the villagers fear of the creatures in the forrest stop her from saving her beloved from death (The Village). When Ivy leaves the village, the villagers question why she is choosing to go on the perils journey. In response to the villagers concerns and worries, Ivy's father said , "She is more capable than most in this village, and she is led by love. The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe." In the forest, Ivy has moments of fear because she all alone and very far away from the village. She faces many scary obstacles in the forest but she preserves because she is "led by her love" for Lucius. Ivy's love and the way she faces her fears despite her blindness is what sets her apart from the other characters and makes her such a remarkable character for the film (The Village). Works Cited "Bryce Dallas Howard Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. Newall, Paul. "The Galilean Library." The Galilean Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013 "The Village (2004 Film)." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. "The Village." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. The Village. M. Night Shyamalan. Bryce, Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Brendon Gleesch. 30 July 2004. "The Village Movie Review - Starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix." The Village Movie Review - Starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. "Village with M Night Shyamalan and Bryce Dallas Howard." Village with M Night Shyamalan and Bryce Dallas Howard. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013 Section heading Write the second section of your page here. yeet